How to Make a CD Rack With Recycled Materials

Building your own furniture gives you a sense of accomplishment and can save you money. Working with recycled materials has the added benefit of helping the environment. Build your own CD rack and you will be able to customise it to your disc collection, including double-wide containers, disc sets, and even loose CDs. You'll also be able to expand it if your collection grows, and easily redecorate it to match the rest of the room. Once you start making your own items from recycled materials, you'll love the flexibility it offers.

Collect small cardboard boxes. The "flat shipping rate" boxes from the post office work well for this project, as do small FedEx boxes.

Stack the boxes you've chosen from the largest on the bottom to the smallest on top. If you want a perfectly lined up and symmetrical CD case, choose square boxes of all the same size. If you want a more customised case, have some narrower boxes horizontal and some vertical to create a variety of openings with which to work.

Cut thick corrugated cardboard to fit the bottom of each different box. Carefully peel off the top flat layer to expose the corrugation underneath. Slice down the middle of each line of corrugation with scissors or an X-acto knife. Slide a pencil through each new ridge to make the edges stand up a bit more.

Paint or otherwise decorate all of the boxes and cardboard sections. Acrylic or tempura paint will work well on cardboard. If you want the case to look like a more solid unit, wait until the boxes are attached and then cover the entire thing in wallpaper or wrapping paper.

Glue each slat of sliced corrugated cardboard into the bottom of its box and glue or tape all the boxes together in their place.

Slide your CDs into the slots between the ridges in the corrugated cardboard. The slits will help hold the CDs upright. For larger discs, cut away a row or two of corrugation.

Add another piece of recycled material to hold CDs that don't have cases. Glue a plastic or cardboard cylinder about a half an inch wide either into one of the boxes or on top of the rack.